Control device



p 1951 N. o. MYKLE'STAD 2,567,890

CONTROL DEVICE Filed Nov. 12, 1949 6 z e5 4 1 2; W

Patented Sept. 11, 1951 lorries 'CONTROL DEVICE Nils Q; Myklestad; rbana, =Ill.1 l

Application-November 12, 1949, Serial No. 126,806

' Th'isinventionrelates "to-a controlrdevice and more particularly'to' a device"for controllingthe function and operationef "a motor;

It "is the general "object of" this invention to produce-a new and'improved' controldevica 'for 'a' 'motor, particularly "fonan engine of the irrterna-l" combustion "type. 7

It is a more-specific obiect of the invention to provi'dea -control"device-having a pressure pro- ;ducing means driven by-the engine and thus responsiveto "the speeds-thereof; "and to utilize the vary'ing pressures produce'd by -such in'eans'effectively-to control functions and operations of the 'en'giner Another "object 'of "the invention is' to produce a control device particularly adapted to c'ontrol controlling the passage and to provide means whereby-the amount-of fuel de'livered f-rorn the passage'to the engine -is-dtermined in part by manually operated devices 'andfiin par-t by -the automatic operation-of' the-*control-.

Another objectof the invention is -to produce *a; control valve for the fuel intake passage of an internal combustion engine andmovable automatically'with changes-in enginespeed -to limit the 'amount'of' fuel delivered tothe-eng ine -to the "amount "the engine can 'economicaIly use at the particular speed at which it is operatin'g, "re- *gardless of the operation of other throttle means by the' operator; V

-Other -and further obiec'ts of 'the invention will "be clear from thefollowingspecification and drawings inwhichz' Fig. 1; The-sectional view,- somewhat somemath in character; showing the control device of thisinventionas applied'to-a 'fue'l intake passage of "an internal combustion engine.

'Fig. 2 is a horizontal-section along line :2-2 'of' Fig. -1.

Fig.3 is a view'of theright hand-port'ion oi Fig. 1 showing a modified-form o'fconstruction;

Fig. -4'=is 'a view like Fig. taken from a peel-'- *tion 90"'there'from'. Whilethe' invention is susceptible of'warious 'm'odi'fi'cajtionsand alternative constructions, it is herein shownland will hereinafter be described in its pre'ferre'd' embodiments. It is "not-intended, however; that the inventionis to' be limited thereby to -the-specificconstructions disclosed. 'O'n *thecontra-ry, it is intended "to cover 'all'modi- "-fi'cations' and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as -=defin'ed in the appended claims.

While the control-device of this invention may be used to control many of the-operations of an engine-or vehicle I have, for 'the'purposeof exemplary-disclosure, -'shown-=the"=control used as a means for regulating-the amount of iueiueuw ered to an internal combustion engine atvarious engine speeds 'and' reg'ardless of throttle settings.

In internal --'combustion engines, I and particularly in gasoline-engines, the =max-imum power and 'efii'ciency is not necessarily obtained at maximum throttle settings exceptwhenthe engine is operating a t'high-speed; When the engine is operating-at lower-speeds too much fuel delivered to the engine has a ten'dency'to choice the engineand reduc'ethe power. In such a situation not only isth'e' power of the engine reduced but 'Efue'l is'wasted."

The control of this invention regulates the amount of fuel-delivered to *the engine at any particularspeed to the amount required-for maximum power or maximum efiic'iency as-the case mayice; .Asused in-:a'n automobile-engine, forexample} "the control reduces engine wear and prevents stalling by limiting the amount of fuel delivered to the engine at any particular engine speed. Furthermore, the control allows "the driver-"to 'obtain maxi-mum acceleration by merely pushing the accelerator to the floorboard, whereupon the control device of this-invention will automatically feed the correct" amount of f-uel to the-engine. As engine speed-increases tlie'amountmf fu"cl' delivered to the engine will beincreased bythe contro'l; Thus, maximum acceleration oan =be-obtained with maximum e'fiiciency. I

Referring now'to Figuresl and12 of i-thedrawings; I show my :controldevice aslasso'ciate'd with the intake-passage l fl 'of a gasoline engine. Norma1-1y,---tne passage 1 n 'is located between thecarburetor :and the intake manifold :of the. engine. The -passage 1:0 is equipped with the usual butter fly valve- '1 "l' operated :by the .rod .1 2, "which .in turn? is operated by. a handor foot throttlezwin 'itheeustdniarymanner; Also ilocated -iwithin the intake passage is a second butterfly valve l3 rotatably mounted on a shaft M, which shaft may be rocked to operate the valve by means of the connecting bracket l5. The bracket I5 is pivotally secured to one end of rod I6 whose other end is secured to a piston l'I reciprocally mounted in a bore I8 in the cylinder l9. Resilient means in the form of a spring 29 is provided to constantly urge the piston I1 toward the bottom of the bore [8 and against a shoulder portion 2| formed therein-to move the valve I3 to closed position. A flexible conduit 22 con-'- nects the lower end of the bore [8 with an accumulator tank 23 while the upper end of the bore is connected by means of a flexible conduit 24 to a sump tank 25.

A gear pump 26 is connected to and driven by the engine. The intake side of the gear pump is connected by means of a passage 21 to the sump 25 while the discharge side of the pump is connected by means of a second passage 28 to the accumulator. An orifice 29 is interposed in the passage 28 between the pump and the accumulator.

A relief valve 30 is provided with an opening 31 in communication with the interior of the accumulator 23 with the opening being normally closed by a valve 32 urged towards closed position by a spring 33 having one end bearing against a partition 34 extending across the bore 35 of the relief valve and having its other end bearing against a piston 36 secured to the end of the valve rod 31. A passage 38 connects that portion of the passage 28 intermediate the pump and the orifice 29 with a chamber 39 formed at the left hand end (as seen in Fig. l) of the relief valve bore. Thus the piston 36 is urged toward movement closing the valve 32 by the spring 33 and is urged towards movement opening the valve by the pressures existing in the passage 28 which latter pressures are of course directly responsive to the speed of the engine. When the valve 32 is opened fluid within the accumulator 23 may flow through the opening 3| and through passage 40 in the partition 34 to connect with a conduit 4| connected to the sump.

Also connected to the accumulator 23 is a metering valve 42 comprising a bore 43 in which a guide piston 44 is reciprocable.

mit fluid to flow therethrough. Attached directly to and guided by the piston 44 is a metering pin 45 which extends through an opening 46 in the sidewalls of the accumulator. A spring 41 within the bore 43 serves to urge the piston 44 to the left (as seen in Fig. 1) to move the metering pin to the position shown wherein it substantially, but not completely, closes th opening 46.

The operation of the control device just described is as follows: The usual butterfly valve II is set to whatever idling position may be necessary to keep the engine operating under no throttle actuation while the butterfly'valve I3 is set to be open slightly more under the same conditions so that the engine is capable of accelerating when the lever associated with the rod I2 is operated. With the engine idling the orifice 29 will pass all the oil delivered by the pump 26 with substantially no build-up in pressure within the passage 28. Similarly the small opening remaining in the opening 46 with the metering pin fully seated, as shown, is also sufficient to return all the oil pumped to the sump. If the throttle is now depressed fully opening The piston. is provided with a number of holes 44a to per- Y the valve H the engine will begin to accelerate. However, all of the fuel which could normally pass the valve H is not delivered to the engine inasmuch as the valve l3 remains in its partially closed position. Suflicient fuel is delivered to the engine, however, to increase its speed thereby increasing the speed of the pump 26. With the increase in speed of the pump 26 the pressure of fluid. within the accumulator '23 also increases, which pressure isdelivered by means of the conduit 22 to the lower end of the bore I8 to move the piston I'I upward against the spring 26. Movement of the piston in this direction serves to partially open the valve [3 and allow the engine to accelerate further. Such further acceleration of course increases the speed of the pump and increases the pressure in the accumulator 23. However, as the pressure in the accumulator increases it tends to unseat the metering pin 45, allowing fluid to pass through the opening 46 and into the bore 43 from which it is returned to the sump ,by means of the passage 50. Fluid in the guide channel 5| at the right hand end of the bore 43, which guides the rod 52 attached to the piston 44, is allowed to escape in the bore bymeans of the small passages 53. As the engine continues to accelerate the pressure within the accumulator continues to build up until, when the engine has reached full speed, the butterfly valve I3 is in a vertical position and fully opened. The shape of the metering pin, of course, determines the pressure in the accumulator 23 which in turn determines the position of the butterfly valve l3. Thus the pin can be so shaped as to give either the maximum efficiency at any given speed or the maximum power, whichever is desired.

The relief 36 serves as a, safety device to prevent excessive pressures from being built up within the accumulator 23 and also serves as a topspeed control device. As the engine accelerates to high speed, the differential pressure across the orifice 29 will cause a substantial rise of pressure within the passage 28, which pressure rise is communciated to the piston 36 through the passage 38 and the chamber 39. When the pressure reaches a point sufiicient to overcome the tension of the spring 33 the valve 32 is unseated, thus dumping fluid from within the accumulator to the sump.

The modified form of device shown in Figures 3 and 4 is, so far as the sump, accumulator, relief valve, metering pin, and pump are concerned, constructed in the same manner as the device of Figure 1 and, hence, such parts are not again illustrated and will not again be described. In this embodiment, however, the passages 22 and 24 are connected to a cylinder 66 having a bore 6| therein in which a piston 62 is reciprocal. A spring 63 serves to urge the piston upwardly to the position shown. A rod 64 is connected to the piston and pivotally connected at 65 to the actuating rod l2 which is operated by a hand or foot throttle, as previously described. A'butterfly valve 66 is rotatably mounted within the intake passage ill on a shaft 61' which is mounted in a journal portion 68 formed on the intake passage and to which the lower portion of the cylinder 6|] is connected by means of a fitting 69. Thus, With movement to the left and right of the control rod l2, the butterfly valve 66 is rotated within the intake passage with the rod 64 and the cylinder 68 forming a single lever arm to accomplish this motion. A spring 10 is secured to a bracket H on the side of the cylinder and to a stationary part 12 of the engine to maintain the rod and cylinder and, hence, the butterfly valve in the idling position shown. It also serves to return the rod and cylinder to the position shown after they have been pivoted by movement of the control rod l2 to the right.

Inasmuch as the upper portion of the bore BI is connected to the accumulator by means of the line 22, increase of pressure within the accumulator serves to move the piston 62 downwardly within the cylinder and thus shorten the lever arm formed by the rod and cylinder. Thus, if the rod I2 is moved to the right a predetermined distance, say for half-throttle, the butterfly rod will be partially opened. As the engine speed increases and the piston 82 is moved downwardly, the butterfly valve will be slowly opened further, even though no further rightward movement of the rod I2 occurs. Thus, with the engine idling, full depression of the throttle will not open the butterfly valve fully but only to the position delivering to the engine the maximum quantity of fuel it can use at that speed As engine speed increases pressure is, of course, built up within the accumulator to move the piston 62 downward slowly increasing the opening of the butterfly valve. The opening of the valve thus regulated by the piston is such as to deliver to the engine the maximum quantity of fuel it can use at each engine speed.

I claim:

1. A fuel control for an internal combustion engine having a, fuel intake passage comprising a valve in said passage for metering the flow of fuel therethrough, an oil pump driven by the engine, an accumulator, a conduit having an orilice and connecting the discharge side of the pump to the accumulator, a sum connected to the intake side of the pump, a passage connecting the accumulator to the sump, a metering pin in the last named passage and biased toward movement closing the same, a relief valve having a valve chamber connected to the sump, an open ing connecting said chamber to the accumulator,

a valve member normall closing the opening, a

bore in the relief valve, a piston slidable in the bore and connected to the valve member, spring means biasing the valve member to a position closing the opening, a passage connecting the bore with the portion of the conduit between the pump and the orifice,a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, means biasing the piston toward movement in one direction, a passage connecting the accumulator to the cylinder for urging the last named piston toward movement in the other 6 mulator to the sump, .a metering pin in the last named passage and. biased toward movement closing the same, a piston and cylinder device, a member connected to the piston and extending from the cylinder and forming with the cylinder a part of said lever system, means biasing the piston toward movement in one direction, a passage connecting the accumulator to the cylinder for urging the piston toward movement in the other direction, movement of said member with movement of said piston being adapted to operate said lever system independent of the manual means to move the valve.

3. A fuel control for an internal combustion engine having a fuel intake passage comprising a pressure producing device driven by the engine, an accumulator, a conduit having an orifice and connecting the pump to the accumulator, a valve in said passage for metering the flow of fuel therethrough and opening in response to pressure in said accumulator, means responsive to the pressure in the accumulator for limiting the pressure therein, and means operating in response to a predetermined pressure in the portion of the conduit between the pressure producing means and the orifice to dump the pressure in the accumulator.

4. In combination with an engine having a control device, means for operating the control comprising a pressure producing device driven by the engine, an accumulator, a conduit having an orifice and connecting the pressure producing device to the accumulator, a sump connected to the pressure producing device, a passage connectin the accumulator to the sump, a metering pin in th passage and biased toward movement closing the same, a relief valve having a valve chamber connected to the sump, an opening connecting said chamber to the accumulator, a valve member normally closing the opening, a bore in the relief valve, a piston slidable in the bore and connected to the valve member, mean biasing the valve member to a position closing the opening, a passage connecting the bore with the portion of the conduit between the pressure producing device and the orifice, pressure responsive means for actuating the control device, and a passage connecting the pressure responsive means with the accumulator.

NILS O. MYKLESTAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,358,812 Anderson Nov. 16, 1920 1,566,376 Couty Dec. 22, 1925 2,134,889 Phillips Nov. 1, 1938 2,260,576 Maybach Oct. 28, 1941 2,356,679 Mallory Aug. 22, 1944 2,453,093 Jarvis Nov. 2, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 751,217 France Aug. 29, 1933 

